A couple Sundays ago I had to cancel the meeting of The Little White Church. Winter will have his reckoning. Technology may well do us all in, but she allowed me to preach a sermon on the Facebook Live for all my snowed in beloved and bedraggled saints. They need Good News, see. We all need some Good News proclaimed. We need to hear the words of Jesus jumping off the page in the voice of flesh and blood.

We need to see forgiveness dancing before us all the way Home.

So, I preached a sermon to empty pews in the 107 year old former Baptist Church building. Rachel and an apple phone bore witness.

My new wife Rachel braved the Blizzard by my side.

Perhaps God gives us snow days as Sabbath. Bonus Sabbaths. I think Rachel would have enjoyed a bonus Sabbath. A Holy Snow Day: but Rachel smiles at my stubborn streak. She walks with me. I have spent years alone. I don’t know that being alone is so bad. Sometimes being alone is God’s kindness to us. But I’ve spent harrowing winters alone, and I thank the Crucified Carpenter King that He hoisted the sun to shine forth on this arctic prairie once more.

Life, death, widowerhood, Resurrection, are all swirling in my life.

Wrestling, if you like.

If two broken people want to break bread together they must learn to put down their burdens, every occasionally, and hold hands.

Come, let us parlay.

Open wide the blinds and see the glory of the Winter Sun shining forth on these frozen hills and hollows.

There’s so much life blooming

If only we’d have eyes to see.

Somewhere, out there, far beyond the prairie, beyond the mountains forever stretching their stony fingers toward the handy work of God, beyond beaches, even… lurks the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. It is an elusive and accidental creature animated by the sons of Adam the size of Texas, yet, undetectable by the cosmic satellites we’ve built to keep an eye on such things. But it’s there all the same, just under the surface of things. It is a vortex of all that is untethered, tethered to all that is untethered. The current pushes the patch here and there, like a plastic Wal-Mart bag carried by every wind.

Writers & Readers

Beloved writers, why does this remind me of how we all too often are on social media?

Beloved readers: when you read an article, regardless of the wordsmithing and passion, ask yourself whether the author is tethered to their local Church. Ask yourself whether this author has any sort of pastoral heart for you, or the people their articles so often throw under the bus.

Words matter. Words are powerful.

I am a Pastor because Jesus is the Word made flesh, and He reveals Himself, among other things, in a book. I’m a writer because He has ordered my heart and mind in such a fashion, and when I write, I do so with fear and trembling because I realize that I have great power in these small words. Even in the incredibly small gift God has granted me there is great power, and I wonder: Am I humble enough to use this power for good? Have I the discernment to use this small mustard seed the Crucified Carpenter King has given me to build up His kingdom rather than my own fiefdom of tyranny?

I have written some on suffering. I believe that the best writers have skin in the game, that vulnerability is often credibility. Yet, vulnerability should never be viewed as the currency by which we pay for platform. I suppose I should stop pussyfooting around and simply state that my pastoral heart is grieved by what I see as manufactured grief produced for the sake of procuring likes and shares. We need to tell truth to power and yet we need to tell truth to ourselves as well. I’m not saying your grief is manufactured, I’m saying if it is you need to check yourself.

And it seems, and feels, like we at times have turned our brothers and sisters into behemoths: monolithic, faceless monsters on whom we can pin our troubles through words and tears in order to win the laudatory label “Brave”. We write that the Church, or the Evangelicals, or whomever, did this, that, or the other thing in cold blood, seemingly forgetting that we are the Church, and collective repentance is all too often lacking in these blogs and twitter rendezvous.

The Rat Race Will Run You Down

The pressure to produce yet another successful blog or tweet has caused some to feign wounds. Yes, we are to be truth tellers, but we are also supposed to be forgivers of trespasses.

It’s become easy to see which way the wind is blowing and to shoot our wounded accordingly. No one has a bigger target on her back than the Church. Obviously she has her sins, if you want to know why, gaze into your local pond, or baring that, head for a mirror.

What’s missing in so many exchanges and articles on social media is a pastoral heart for the reader and those we write contra to. One need not be a Pastor to have the pastoral heart. But, do not write if you’ve forgotten how to love.

In Matthew 9 the Lord Jesus had people tugging at His clothes, hounding Him, following Him, and laughing at Him. The Scriptures tell us what was going on in His divine heart…

When I write, and interact with my fellow image bearers on social media I try to be mindful that I am an under-shepherd beneath The Crucified Carpenter King. I try to remember that 1 Timothy 3:1-7 says I should be above reproach, self-controlled, respectable, gentle, not quarrelsome, and able to teach. It should be noted that if one is cold hearted toward his fellow man, he is not as able to teach. He will not be listened to by those with whom he disagrees, which is why so much of what we see online is nothing more than a tribal red meat potluck served up in comments, likes and RT’s.

The problem is much larger than believers forsaking the accountability and teaching of the local Church in favor of podcasts: it’s the untethered “thought leader” teaching online followers without a lifeline to the pastoral heart that must govern the shepherd.

The dumpster fire we so often are burned by on social media is the result of the untethered, tethering themselves to the untethered.

If you have to defend a writer with, “He’s really quite nice in person.” there’s a problem, and the problem isn’t how they are in person.

Before you write, and before you read, remember what the Apostle Paul wrote to young Timothy,

“But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.” ~ 1st Timothy 1.5 (NASB)

“If you see oppression of the poor and denial of justice and righteousness in the province, do not be shocked at the sight; for one official watches over * another official, and there are higher officials over them.” ~ Ecclesiastes 5.8 (NASB)

The old, dusty, Preacher King gathers his people before him and asks them to reconsider all the ambitious schemes they’ve hatched in their noggins. He tells them in essence, “I’ve been there and done that already, this isn’t my first rodeo, I’ve been around the block a time and two, and believe you me, kiddo, there’s no redemption at the end of the road you’re taking.”

Preacher Man Solomon tells the people: it’s all vanity.

He begins with his beginning: Wisdom.

Now, Wisdom had been his old companion. Wisdom was the first and oldest tool in his royal toolbox. Before King David died he said his son, Solomon, was young and inexperienced, and Solomon for his part did an extraordinary thing; instead of being offended, he listened to his dear old dad (1st Chronicles 22.5)! So it was that Solomon asked the Lord for wisdom.

Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this your great people?”

(1 Kings 3:9 ESV)

The point of wisdom, for Solomon, when he was young and wet behind the ears, was to discern between good and evil, so that he might be a good king, so that he might be a good servant of God.

So why is it that old Preacher man Solomon seems to take a different view? Surely discerning between good and evil doesn’t go out of style like your clothes? Not your clothes, per se, other people’s, of course.

Isn’t truth timeless? Isn’t choosing good always in style?

Hear, O sons, a father’s instruction,

and be attentive, that you may gain insight,

for I give you good precepts;

do not forsake my teaching.

When I was a son with my father,

tender, the only one in the sight of my mother,

he taught me and said to me,

“Let your heart hold fast my words;

keep my commandments, and live.

Get wisdom; get insight;

do not forget, and do not turn away from the words of my mouth.

Do not forsake her, and she will keep you;

love her, and she will guard you.

The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom,

and whatever you get, get insight.

Prize her highly, and she will exalt you;

she will honor you if you embrace her.

She will place on your head a graceful garland;

she will bestow on you a beautiful crown.”

(Proverbs 4:1-9 ESV)

It is fascinating that the Holy Spirit chose to personify wisdom as a woman. Word to the wise, husbands, word to the wise, sons.

But what’s going on with Solomon in Ecclesiastes verses Solomon in Proverbs? Had he gone sour on wisdom?

Wisdom is a beautiful thing, if her purpose is to know the triune God deeply and profoundly. But she is a terrible replacement for God. As always, the motives of your heart determines something’s value.

Why are you reading all those books? Why are you dishing out all that tuition? Are you trying to serve God deeply? Are you trying to prepare yourself to help people?

Are you trying to be perceived as the smartest kid in any room?

Are you trying to win to get somebody to say, “You’re right.” on Facebook?

Vanity of vanities, I’ve yet to see such a thing!

Or are you trying to outwit God?

Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.

It is literally vain to say or to even think, “Hey. Listen to my diploma rather than what you just read in the Word of God.”

That is, however, what is going on.

This vanity is going on in too many “Churches”.

This vanity is going on all over the internet.

This vanity is going on all over the television.

“Listen to my diploma rather than what you just read in God’s book. Let me tell you why it doesn’t mean what it means.”

Christ at the center is humble wisdom.

Christ edited out, well, that’s vainglorious wisdom.

A Cross-less, Christ-less, Resurrection-less life is just less.

What does Solomon say?

The Vanity of Wisdom

[12] I the Preacher have been king over Israel in Jerusalem. [13] And I applied my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven. It is an unhappy business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. [14] I have seen everything that is done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind.

There are many lenses through which you can look at the world. The Preacher says the first one he tried was wisdom. What does he conclude? Vanity. Striving after the wind. What are other lenses, or worldviews through which people try to make sense of the world? Philosophy. Education. Science. Nature. Darwinism. Economic. Psychological. Sociological. Religion. Government. Cultural. And there are a hundred more, no doubt.

I wonder why Solomon says it is an unhappy business God has given us to be busy with? Part of the answer has to do with the great breaking of the World way back in Genesis. The curse says we will work and work and work all the days of our lives, by the sweat of our brow, often with limited success, and regardless of how successful you are, it’ll all be dust in no time.

It is also an unhappy business God has given us to be busy with because life is unbelievably painful, if you’re honest that is, and I never assume people are, but if you are honest, you will admit that life is often marked by searing loss and disappointment. This too makes life an unhappy business.

This is why the Church must be as safe of a place for those who are suffering as the Scriptures are.

The biggest reason that Solomon can say that we humans are preoccupied with an unhappy busyness is because the human soul longs to be busy with redemptive things. This too is why Jesus Christ at the center matters. This is why your local Church should be the center of your life as well, so long as your local Church is deeply busy with the things concerning Jesus. The same Resurrected Jesus whom they didn’t recognize until He broke the bread in Luke 24.

We long to be busy with eternal things. We long to have meaning. Meaning too, as with peace, can be one elusive fish, to be sure.

The notion of Christ centered vocation means that even the most menial tasks takes on cosmic meaning and value if it is done for the glory of God. You wake up day after day, put your clothes on, drink your coffee, and work. For what? The Bible views work as a good thing. The Bible views providing for one’s family as a good thing. Yet if you live only for replenishing your bank account you will soon find yourself poor in spirit. The graveyard, and the obituary page are always reminding us that we are painfully replacable. Yes, you are all unique snowflakes; snowflakes melt. Christ at the center saves you from despair.

The Preacher goes on…

[15] What is crooked cannot be made straight,

and what is lacking cannot be counted.

[16] I said in my heart, “I have acquired great wisdom, surpassing all who were over Jerusalem before me, and my heart has had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.” [17] And I applied my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also is but a striving after wind.

[18] For in much wisdom is much vexation,

and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow.

(Ecclesiastes 1:12-18 ESV)

There are a couple notions here in Solomon’s words. To be certain the old axiom “Ignorance is bliss” may come into play here.

But then again the actor John Wayne is credited with saying, although it seems that he didn’t actually say it, “Life is hard. It’s even harder when you’re stupid.”, may also come into play.

Are we as Christians to be anti-intellectual? Anti book?

May it never be!

But as Saint Paul argues in 1st Corinthians, knowledge, wisdom, giftedness without love are all useless to the Kingdom of God.

Sitting around in Jerusalem thinking you have more wisdom than any King who reigned over Jerusalem before or since may not be coupling wisdom to the love of Christ…. Even if it happens to be true.

But there is a deeper point here. You may be the most intelligent person of the age, but you will never surpass God’s wisdom, so fall to your knees and kiss the son, lest He be angry (Psalm 2).

Or, you might think of St. Paul’s description of the intellectual creeps of the last days:

having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth.

(2 Timothy 3:5-7 ESV)

Or you might think of St. Luke’s description of the men of Athens in Acts 17:21

Now all the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there would spend their time in nothing except telling or hearing something new.

Solomon talks about delving into the madness. It is true that one can live so deeply in books that they become untethered to reality. Sometimes this is good.

Sometimes this is bad.

Sometimes the accusation is made just to shut you up.

To this day I have had the help that comes from God, and so I stand here testifying both to small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would come to pass: that the Christ must suffer and that, by being the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light both to our people and to the Gentiles.”

And as he was saying these things in his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, “Paul, you are out of your mind; your great learning is driving you out of your mind.” But Paul said, “I am not out of my mind, most excellent Festus, but I am speaking true and rational words. For the king knows about these things, and to him I speak boldly. For I am persuaded that none of these things has escaped his notice, for this has not been done in a corner. King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you believe.” And Agrippa said to Paul, “In a short time would you persuade me to be a Christian?” And Paul said, “Whether short or long, I would to God that not only you but also all who hear me this day might become such as I am—except for these chains.”

(Acts 26:22-29 ESV)

Well, who was out of whose mind?

Whether you get dubbed a mad scientist like Dr. Frankenstein, or Jekyll & Hyde, or just mad like the Apostle Paul, we know that knowledge is made perfect, and worthwhile only in Christ.

This morning I shuffled into my study at the little white Church, and grabbed a green volume of Spurgeon’s Sermons (ubiquitous in most Reformed folk’s libraries I imagine). I was looking for something tweetable that would make me look spiritual and what have you.